I have not heard this touted - and I am no manager - but I would bring back Derry to start on Saturday. We need some steel and grit in the middle. If things are reasonable - would take him off on 70 mins and go for the win with one of the more creative types. No one seems to have spoken of him of late.
You know what Westlondon, I said the same to my dad on Monday night - we badly needed a Derry type against west ham. But he didnt even get on the bench. I like ephraim but he was always gonna be far too light weight to put on against west ham so why was he on the bench?
I keep saying this. We need to start with at least one DCM. Playing Granero and Faurlin is great but neither has the ability to protect our back four. They are both wonderful players but neither has the physical presence or physicality required to help us stop leaking goals. Injuries have not helped us and restricted MH options. When fit I would love to see a 4-2-3-1 with Diakite and M'Bia sitting deep and three of Faurlin/Granero/Adel/Hoillett causing mayhem ahead of them. We are not scoring enough and concealing loads. It's not all the fault of our defenders. As good and all as Faurlin and Granero look I personally think they don't work. We look to vulnerable when we loose the ball.
Considering the qpr old guard have been the best players season lets drop everyone who wasn't in the team when qpr got promoted. Fill gaps with those who were here at end of last season. Play in any formation that accommodates as many of the old guard as possible as it doesn't really matter and see what happens. Cant be any worse can it?
I think putting Nelsen and Hill back together and moving M'bia in front of them is the way to go until Samba is back but no doubt we need a DCM in there.
I actually tend to agree - I think this might settle the other players and allow integration. Might this not have been the sensible way to integrate the new people anyway? I worked for lots of large corporates - this is how we would bring new people on - of course it is not the same thing... but... as you say - Ironman - can't be any worse than last game
I think this should be Diakite's spot. Give him a good run in the team and maybe he won't be so clumsy. Am I right in thinking both his sendings off were when he had been brought on as a sub? When the team are all fully fit I don't see a problem but with so many defenders out or having to play out of position M'Bia will always be expected to cover CB. Sadly Derry is way down the pecking order so he might only feature if there are more injuries or suspensions. The Granero Faurlin pairing is great but it is certainly true they lack that ability to win back balls or tackle hard. Diakite had a couple of powerful surges during his brief time on the pitch against W.Ham, I don't think teams can cope with that sort of player as everyone is used to either long balls over the top or tippy-tappy passing. Steaming through the middle could be a tactic Sparky could use to our advantage.
I also think that by playing a 4-2-3-1 it would allow our front 4 to press the opposition further up the field. I think that our lack of ability to close down the opposition quicker and further up the field has cost us badly so far. If Granero or Faurlin try and close down the opposition too early it leaves big holes behind them in the centre of the pitch. With Diakite and M'Bia sitting deep it would allow the front 4 to press higher up the field knowing they had ample protection behind them. It would saturate the centre of the pitch when required and stop teams simply over running us which is exactly what happened in the second half against spuds. We obviously don't have to sit with 2 DCMs all the time. M'Bia could sit deep to protect against quick counter attacks and Diakite could be allowed to burst forward through the middle when required. In fairness to MH, he has had limited options with all the injuries we have had. IMHO this formation would allow us to be very very solid and still have enough flair players on the pitch to be creative and score goals. If required, Cisse could also play in this attacking three CMs. Just my thoughts.
I do see your point Nuts. I prefer playing the one holding DCM, Diakite when fit and available, with Granero and Ale in a midfield 3, and then Adel, Hoillet and Cisse up front, as it gives us more going forward. But for tough away games your option may be necessary, I hope not for all games!
Fair point OSLO. I would agree with your setup for home games against bottom half teams. but for all away games and home games against the top teams I would delpoy 2 DCMs allowing Diakite to burst forward when required. IMO we need to get back to basics. High workrate and pressing the opposition as far up the field as possible and not allow us to be chasing shadows in the middle of the park. We need to become hard to beat again. I actually love fluidity in a team. But we are a long way away from that yet. Lets get hard to beat first, stop conceading goals and then we can tinker with more creative players when we are up and running.
I agree with you that they can't play together in a tactically inept flat 4 across the midfield. However, I believe that they can play together as the two holding players in a 4-2-3-1, although I'd play M'Bia and Faurlin as the two in that formation with Granero ahead of them in the centre of the 3 with 2 of Park/Hoilett and Taarabt. In a 4-3-3, for home games (4-5-1 when we lose the ball), I'd play M'Bia as the holding midfielder behind Granero and Faurlin with Taarabt and Hoilett each side of Zamora.
Just what we need, another defensive midfielder to add to our 2 defensive wingers. We were crying out for creativity against WH, not Derry.
Flyer, we are playing defensive wingers cause we don't have a defensive centre. If we had a DCM or two we would have less need for hard working wingers
